Medieval: Total War

Strategy games are not, in general, particularly thrilling
spectacles. Certainly, they are often involving, challenging and
interesting - but in terms of stirring the soul, they're not really
much cop. There's not a lot of drama or emotion in play when a tank
blows up a couple of lighter vehicles in Red Alert, or when your
Zerg lay waste to an enemy outpost in StarCraft - which is why
finding a strategy game which has the blood of your warrior
ancestors pumping through your veins and the bloodthirsty cries of
battle ringing in your ears is really something rather special.

Fight to the Death

This game ranks highly!

And that's exactly what Medieval: Total War is; something rather
special. The developers of Shogun: Total War are back with a game
which isn't so much an upgrade or a sequel as a complete overhaul
of the original, reinventing much of the battle system and almost
all of the strategic system to deliver a slicker, more thoughtful
and yet even more dramatic game. If you thought charging hundreds
of samurai across the fields of Japan into bloody battle was an
incredible experience, then the delights offered by Medieval will
make your mouth water; and if you've never played Shogun, you truly
have a treat in store for you.

Taking it from the top, for the benefit of those who have never
played the first Total War title, Medieval is a game, set in Europe
during the end of the Dark Ages and the Renaissance, which gives
you control of a faction and then sets you loose to achieve
domination through a combination of tactical manoeuvring and
hard-fought battles on a grand scale. Two almost entirely different
games exist here rolled into one; firstly, there is the tactical
map, which gives you control of your provinces on an economic,
military and political level. Secondly - and herein lies the true
hook of the game - there is the battle map, which pits your armies
against those of your rivals and gives you direct command.

Power, Domination, Control

France needed invading if you ask us

One of the key differences between Medieval and Shogun is that the
tactical map has now been beefed up significantly, with the level
of control offered to you - and the resulting level of complexity -
being far ahead of anything seen in the previous game. You have
direct control of the production queues of each province in terms
of buildings and troops, as well as being able to award titles
relating to the province to your generals, affect the religion and
loyalty of the populace in a variety of ways and even secure
yourself against spies and assassins - while using the same tools
against your own enemies. You must also keep an eye on the royal
family of your realm; the game spans several hundred years, and
you'll go through a lot of monarchs in that time - so you need to
be sure to keep their heirs safe, because a country without a king
will often be reduced into civil war.

If all of this sounds familiar, that's probably because you've
played one of Sid Meier's Civilization games in the past. Creative
Assembly have certainly taken a lot of inspiration from Civ in
creating their tactical play component, and while the technology
tree in Medieval certainly isn't as complex or extensive as the one
in Civilization, this is more then compensated for by the intricate
systems controlling monarchy, succession, generals of armies and
governors of provinces. Indeed, in many ways Medieval is a more
satisfying tactical game than Civilization III was; the level of
forward planning required in conducting a successful military or
espionage campaign is much higher, and the sense of overall
achievement when you conquer a rival or even just capture a
province is far beyond anything Civ has to offer.

Dulce Et Decorum Estů

Slaughter on a grand scale

Of course, the incredibly good tactical game is only half of the
story where Medieval is concerned, because when your armies march
off to war in this game, you get the chance to control their
battles directly. The computer can, of course, resolve disputes on
purely numerical basis - but a little tactical flair can overcome
even quite overwhelming odds, so it's almost always worth your
while to take control yourself. Besides, if you choose to ignore
the battles, you're missing a really big part of the overall
package - and one of the best war simulations ever created. Set on
a variety of giant, rolling landscapes, you can take control of
literally thousands of troops, organised into a number of
divisions, and must take advantage of the landscape and the
composition of your forces in either defending your territory or
invading an enemy province.

The sensation of scale and drama in these conflicts is incredible;
imagine the opening scene of Gladiator replayed on a grand scale,
with fantastic music that rises and falls according to the events
on the battlefield and hundreds of units clashing noisily on the
hillsides and valleys of the province. The simulation of battle is
also superb, with height offering a real tactical advantage, and
the strengths and weaknesses of each unit accurately modelled -
right down to archers having poor aim in bad weather, and
camel-mounted Arab troops panicking the horses of cavalry! There's
little in gaming terms that can match the drama and satisfaction of
an uphill enemy charge being cut down by lines made up of hundreds
of strategically positioned archers on the hilltop, before your
cavalry race downhill to pick off the retreating stragglers.

Battlefield Control Terminated

Four legs good, two legs bad!

Control of the battlefield is not perfect - the camera can
occasionally be fiddly, and it can sometimes be difficult to see
exactly what all of your units are doing at any given time.
However, in ways, this confusion adds to the atmosphere of the
game; while the gamer in you hankers for the accurate, pixel
perfect controls espoused by modern RTS titles, it has to be
remembered that war in medieval times simply didn't work that way -
not to mention that factors such as the tiredness and morale of
your troops will have a major effect on how accurately your orders
are carried out, and with what speed.

All in all, Medieval presents a stunningly rounded package,
combining the most dramatic and stirring renditions of the
battlefield ever created with a deep and cerebral tactical game
which rivals any god-game on the market in terms of complexity and
entertainment. Creative Assembly have crafted a masterpiece; a game
which may not have massive mainstream appeal for casual gamers, but
which anyone who enjoys strategy or historic war will rightly
recognise as a milestone in gaming.